5 Amazing Tips to Improve Your Pronunciation Now!

Hello ESL learners who are presently working on accent reduction or as we say at Accent Master; learning an American accent.  I have put together a list of tips that have helped many of my clients improve their spoken English.

 Are you looking for ideas of what you can do right now, even if you can't make the time to take one of our private or group classes in English pronunciation?  Well let me give you the link in case you didn't know that beyond our excellent software program we do indeed have private classes  Accent Master Private Classes Oh and while I am at it I will mention that our software program price has been reduced to just $99.00, or a download for $89.00.  Here is the link for that great deal:   Accent Master Software .  Okay so lets get to what you can do on your own.  Below I am giving you 5 tips that will really help you be understood.

 Five Tips to Improve Your English Pronunciation Now!

1. English flows.  It has been said that the rhythm of English is like that of jazz.  Often new speakers of English are told to slow down; this can actually cause more difficulty.  English words are often connected as in “how-are you” The first two words sound like one.  If you separate each word you will end up sounding robotic.
2. The /th/ sound, this one is not found in many languages, with the exception of Greek and Cotillion Spanish.  The good news is that it is easy to see in the mirror.  Take a look in the mirror.  Whisper this sentence.  He thought a bath would be a good thing.  You should see your tongue sticking out just a bit between your teeth 3 times.  The most common mistake is to replace /th/ with a /d/ or /t/.  Just move that tongue out a bit and you will have it.
3. Listen to a book on tape.  This will be an excellent example of English spoken well.  Listening to well produced English is one of the best things you can do for yourself.  Training the ear to “stop hearing with an accent” is crucial to accent modification success.
4. How about that /r/? The American /r/ is different than most.  There is no contact from the tongue to any other part of the mouth when producing the /r/ sounds.  Just curl the tongue tip back and let the air flow out around it. 
5. Here is a simple tip about /s/ and /z/.  Often in American English we like to write s and then produce a /z/.  As in the final position of words.  If an s follows a vowel or a silent sound at the end of a word it is produced as a /z/.  Here are some examples.  

s that is produced as a /z/                          s that sounds like an /s/

Cries                                                          hits

Beds                                                          tacks

Rays                                                          bells

The most important thing you can do now is practice these 5 tips.  Then go our and use them in conversation.  Put on your American accent in low pressure situations, like ordering your coffee or talking to a sales person on the phone.  Then try it out on acquaintances until you feel confident to start using these new  patterns in conversations that are more  intense for example with a boss, a colleague or a client.

Lynn founder of ;
Accent Master

Spoken English's Real Impact on Your Life

How Does Your Accent Really Affect Your Work, Relationships, and Confidence? 

So here we are in the heat of the summer, and I think it is a good time really think about our speech and how it truly is impacting the impression we make on the world.  How are we representing ourselves?  Do we put our best foot forward or do we just muddle through.  I am guessing that if you read a blog on spoken American English that you must be some one striving for more, to always put your best foot forward, as I find most of our clients at Accent Master to be, they work on accent reduction or put a clearer way learning an American accent to improve their chances at promotions, being project managers, getting hired, making a clearer sales pitch.  Successful people that don't give up on taking it one step further.

Lets  really evaluate how our speech affects our progress, our lives. Be honest with your self

• I am asked to repeat myself how many time in a day? 
• I avoid using certain words      
• I may have experienced because of my accent:

lost job opportunities
looked over for promotion
networking connections

• I avoid networking or job socialization because I was nervous about my communication skills 
• I feel out of place socializing because I am misunderstood  
• In casual conversation I am
• When explaining complex ideas my accent interferes
• Talking on the phone in English 
• I try to speak with an American accent when speaking English 

  Speaking with an American accent would improve

• confidence
• work/job performance
• social life
• public speaking
• desire to share ideas
• leadership skills
• client relationships
• others perception of my abilities

Because of my accent people see me as:

• More naive
• less capable
• nicer
•  more knowledgeable
• less knowledgeable
• not precise
• less educated
• more educated
• a leader
• a mediator
• less friendly

If I meet someone with a different accent then myself it effects my perception of them 

• More naive
• less capable
• nicer
•  more knowledgeable
• less knowledgeable
• not precise
• less educated
• more educated
• a leader
• a mediator
• less friendly

So what did you find? More positive associations with speaking nonstandard or accent American English?  Or more negative?  For more videos and tips for speaking standard American English please go to:  Accent Master.com

Successful communication is within your reach!

Lynn Founder of
Accent Master

Don't stress over word stress!

Word stress in English can be challenging. This is because American English incorporates words from many language backgrounds including, Indian both American Indian and from India, french, Latin, German, polish and every other language. As immigrants continue to influence our language we and they as new American create there own twist to these words, most frequently changing the stress pattern.

It is also true that we don't stick to one pattern, as in French where stress nearly always falls on the final syllable. And we don't mark the stress in our writing like in Spanish.

We do however have clues in our writing to the stress pattern. Specific word endings denote a specific stress pattern. Of course because we are talking about American English there is always to be exceptions to the rule.

One easy rule to remember is that when a word ends in -tion or -sion as in description and confusion, the stress will fall on the syllable right before the ending: description, confusion.

We stress the syllable by making it longer, louder and with a change in the tone.
I have created a podcast and posted it on the right, of the following words. Listen for the stressed syllable.

pediatrician, discussion, obligation, explanation, creation, application, section, relation, fusion, conversation, musician, observation, ration, attention, presentation, obsession, realization.

5 ways to improve your intelligability in English

This short list of ways to improve your spoken English intelligibility can be implemented right now. Every time you speak English is a new opportunity to practice speaking with your American accent!

1. Don't speak slowly. No I don't mean rush through all you need to say, what I mean is don't......say.......one.......word.......at ......a.....time. you will drive the listener to distraction. What you want to do.....is to chunk your words......into thought groups.....pausing between each......group of words. This will give your speech more flow and allows your listeners to keep up with you. Pause longer if you feel that your pronunciation is very difficult to understand.

2. Do not leave off word endings. Even if this slows down your rate or interrupts your flow. Americans are very into time lines. We need to know when things happened and those word ending tell us exactly that. Inflectional endings are packed with linguistic information!

3. Move your mouth more. There is a tendency when you feel unsure of your pronunciation to mumble or "swallow" your words. Move your mouth, notice how Americans open their mouths wide when they say certain vowel sounds, and stick their tongues out of their mouth for th. Don't be afraid to try to be clear. If what your doing doesn't feel any different then you are not doing anything any differently!

4. Make fun of American speech patterns. What I mean here, is speak in your native language as if you were imitating an American. The intonation and stress pattern is most likely pretty close to that of an American. So go ahead put on your best American accent, you are probably correct.

5. Use what you know. No matter how much or how little information you have on English pronunciation it is time to put it into use. The trick is that you cannot think about every word you are going to say while trying to focus on a conversation. At first try incorporating it in rote sentences such as "how are you?" or "one coffee, milk and sugar please".